Trump, the Constitution and the Real Threat to National Security

In a White House meeting today Donald Trump stated that he would “look into” supporting law enforcement agencies who seized the assets of those it suspected of criminal activity. This is despite the clear unconstitutionality of the action. And I quote Article XIV, Section I: “nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”. Funny how those who bray most about their love of the constitution know least about it.

Let us not forget that he thinks “torture works”. Do not worry though; he will not start using it. Not because it goes against the Eighth Amendment but out of deference to his Secretary of State, the reassuringly named James “Mad Dog” Mattis. (I will stick with the Butcher of Fallujah, thanks)

It is also worth pointing out that his now confirmed pick for Secretary of Education, Betsy De Vos, has spent her whole career privatising state education and diverting funds – and nubile young flesh – to religious chartered schools. It was by adopting this strategy that she hoped to “advance God’s kingdom” at the expense of the separation of Church and State as guaranteed by the First Amendment.

The man simply does not know enough to care about the Constitution.

What he does have is this weird fetishisation of the Second Amendment, so common among the GoP. People with severe mental illness can now buy guns with no issues. Leaving aside the paradox of invoking the inviolability of the constitution to defend an amendment to it, is it not gross that of all the amendments it is this one that the GoP grandstand on? Especially when so many rights are curtailed in the name of the War against Terror; a terror which is dwarfed by garden variety gun violence, and is in many way exacerbated by it.

There were 15,809 homicides by firearm in America in 2015, against the 14 deaths by Islamic terror (and in deathly cross pollination these were killed by legally purchased firearms.) In just the last 72 hours there have been 108 gun related deaths. You tell me which is the threat to national security?